Samurai Shodown

Also known as: Samurai Spirits (Japan)

Developer: SNK

With the success of Street Fighter II, SNK had set out to create a fighting masterpiece of their own. Initial attempts with games like Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting were okay, but nowhere near the quality of Capcom’s classic fighter. Then SNK attempted a new strategy - instead of making a game that looked and felt like a clone of Street Fighter, they created a fighting game that looked, felt, and played differently. The end result was, in my opinion, SNK’s first great fighting game, Samurai Shodown. Set in feudal Japan, and titled with a play on words (hence the lack of the first ‘w” in Shodown), this game adds weapons to each character, blood, and was probably the most tactical fighting game available when it was released - if you simply attack, you’re going to lose. You need to take your time, and be just as focused on your defense as you are on your offense. The gameplay is also set up in such a way where if someone lowers their guard for a moment, even if they have a full health bar and you’re one hit away from defeat, it’s not uncommon to be able to pull off a come-from-behind victory. This can be frustrating when the computer does it to you, but as you get better with the game, you’ll find yourself doing the same to the AI opponent in time as well. You can even disarm your opponent to drastically reduce their ability to harm you, forcing them to either fight with a handicap or attempt to reclaim their weapon. Toss in random power-ups that appear, like food to replenish someone’s health, as well as bombs to damage anyone unlucky enough to be nearby when it blows up, and you’ve also got an element of luck to add to the experience even more. I can’t say enough good things about Samurai Shodown. It really is a fantastic game…and as good as it is, SNK managed to improve on everything here in the sequel to solidify their standing as Capcom’s top competitor in the 2D fighting game market.

Review added: 12/27/2021

Samurai Shodown II

Also known as: Shin Samurai Spirits: Haohmaru Jigokuhen (Japan)

Developer: SNK

I enjoyed the original Samurai Shodown. It was a really good fighting game in its own right…Then SNK developed Samurai Shodown II and perfected the formula. While games like Street Fighter II were absolutely fantastic in their own right, they also were easy enough to play where button mashers could see the credits roll without needing to be too smart or tactical with their fighting. Samurai Shodown II, even on its lowest difficulty setting, is not a game where you'll get very far simply mashing buttons. Essentially, you'll want to be in the defensive just as much, if not more, than being on the offensive, if you want to survive to see the wonderful, poorly-translated cut-scenes and endings. Every now and then, power-ups appear on screen to help you (or your opponent) out during the battle, and at times you or your opponent may lose your weapon during the brawl, giving the person still with their weapon in hand a big advantage. The fighters also vary considerably in size - if you see the giant Earthquake against the dwarf-like Nicotine, it gives you a fun David vs. Goliath visual. And speaking of Nicotine, his full name is Nicotine Caffine. This game is as addicting as both of those substances. A lot of people point to one of the King of Fighters games as the best fighting game that SNK has put out. I always point to this gem. I don't just consider it to be the best fighting game that SNK has ever put out, but I also consider Samurai Shodown II to be one of the best fighting games of all-time.

Review added: 12/26/2022

Scramble

Also known as: Astro Ambush (Bootleg), Bomber (Bootleg), Explorer (Bootleg), Impacto (Bootleg), Kamikaze (Bootleg), New Century (Bootleg), Offensive (Bootleg), Scrabble (Bootleg), Space Mission (Bootleg), Space Trek (Bootleg), Strafe Bomb (Bootleg)

Developer: Konami

Scramble is one of those successful, critically acclaimed arcade games that spawned a TON of bootleg copies (see the list above), and yet a lot of people these days have never heard of it. Konami's side-scrolling shooter may have been the first in the genre…and if not the first, it was one of the first, and it was Konami's first big hit that helped lead them into transforming into the powerhouse in video games that they would become. While compared to games that would come later in the genre, Scramble feels a bit slow-paced and easy, it was also a pretty well-made game for the time, gradually introducing new players to new aspects of the game. To start, you've mostly got enemies at the bottom of the screen, so if you try to shoot forward, you won't be able to hit most of them. A second button, however, drops bombs on enemies below. It takes a little practice to get the timing down so that these attacks actually land where you intend them to land, but once you get it, it can be switching back and forth between bombing enemies below while sniping off the enemies coming in from the air. Another unique concept is that the enemies aren't the only thing that you're trying to survive against - you're also trying to survive the terrain. The levels have mountains and obstacles in the environment where if your aircraft happens to hit it, you've lost a life. Likewise, you're also battling your fuel tank, which needs to be topped off so that you can maintain flight. In an odd choice, you obtain fuel by blowing up fuel tanks scattered around the levels…I don't understand how destroying your source of fuel provides you fuel, but perhaps the creators were just a bit Scramble" brained….sorry, I'll continue on. Scramble has six different sections, and once you complete them, like most arcade games of the time, you get to play them all over again in a loop, but with slightly increased difficulty. Anyway, Scramble may not be the most memorable scrolling shooter that you'll play, or the best, but for its time, it was a neat concept and it helped lay the groundwork for all future scrolling shooters that would come after it.

Review added: 04/09/2026

Sea Wolf

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Midway

Sea Wolf was one of the most successful early arcade games. It was the highest-grossing game in 1976 and 1977 in the United States. It has kind of a neat gimmick to it, too. If you're playing at an actual arcade cabinet, you grab ahold of the periscope and look inside it to play. The right handle has a button that you can use to shoot torpedoes up at any ships passing by. The periscope itself swivels left and right, allowing the player to move their aiming crosshairs on the screen. As you play, various types of aquatic vehicles will pass by at different speeds. Your goal is to time your shots and blow as many of those ships out of the water as you can within the time limit. Aside from doing your best to time out your shots to hit the enemy subs and boats, there are also underwater mines that may get in your way. Blowing up a mine doesn't hurt you, but it does prevent you from scoring. The neat periscope gimmick on the arcade cabinet and the feeling of "I can do better next time" that it leaves the player with is likely much of the reason for this game's success. It's a solid, early arcade game, and while it's not horrible to play on an emulator, it really needs to be played on the original arcade cabinet to really understand why Sea Wolf was so popular.

Review added: 11/11/2025

Sea Wolf II

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Midway

Sea Wolf was a big success at arcades, so it's only natural that Midway would want to capitalize on that and make a sequel. While Sea Wolf II provides a very welcome addition of a two-player mode, the addition of a second periscope makes the arcade cabinet look more like a fancy coffee machine than anything else. If Sea Wolf II could make me a latte while I played, maybe I'd like it a bit more. Anyway, the original Sea Wolf was simplistic, but it was designed well for an early video game and the gimmick of the periscope to both control the action and to see the screen helped make it stand out. When Sea Wolf II came out, two years had passed and while Sea Wolf was still popular at the arcades, people weren't popping in quarters like they had in the previous years. According to the November 1978 edition of Play Meter magazine, Sea Wolf had dropped from the number one most-earning arcade game to number three. Sea Wolf II came in at number four…even during its initial year, it seemed to fail at living up to the original. Anyway, aside from adding a second player, Sea Wolf II seems to try applying an illusion of 3D gameplay…the end result, for me anyway, was an easier game that didn't really motivate me to play again like the original Sea Wolf did. It's still a passable game for its time, and the periscope use is still a fun gimmick if you're playing on an original arcade cabinet…but Sea Wolf II just doesn't live up to the original, in my opinion.

Review added: 11/11/2025

Sheriff

Also known as: Bandito (Original North American release name)

Developer: Nintendo

Sheriff, also known as Bandito, was an early Nintendo arcade game that helped show that the future industry juggernaut could come up with some unique ideas of their own. Sheriff was a unique take on the popular shooter genre of the time. Like most games in the genre at the time, you've got enemies at the top of the screen and you're controlling someone (a sheriff in this case…fitting) as they attempt to shoot at them. The catch here is that you're not only dealing with enemies at the top of the screen. You're surrounded on every side of the screen. Essentially, the game concept is that the area that the sheriff is able to navigate in is actually a town, with fences and barricades put up around the area. The bandits have surrounded the town and are trying to get in. On top of that, a "beauty" has been kidnapped by the bandits and is waiting for you to save her. This isn't just a slow game of shooting at stationary bandits, though. Sixteen bandits will slowly circle the town…and if you're not quick enough, they'll sometimes hop over the barricades, resulting in some close-quarters shooting. In typical fashion for a shooting game of the time, there's also a condor that flies at the top of the screen at times that you can shoot for double points…it's good to know that our hero is willing to take a break from shooting bad guys to spot a bird minding its own business and drop it from the sky. The ultimate goal of the game is to continuously clear out the bad guys and rescue the constantly kidnapped "beauty." According to the arcade flyer, then "loves grows between the two." When that love has grown, the player is rewarded with a doubled score. The gameplay of Sheriff is good fun for the time, with the ability to shoot up, down, left, right, and diagonally…and you're punished for inaccurate shooting - shoot blindly and you'll find yourself quickly breaking down the walls that are keeping you safe from enemy fire. My only real complaint about this game is something that was likely seen as a fun novelty in 1979, and that's the background music that plays non-stop. It's the musical equivalent of stubbing your big toe while someone puts a bucket over your head and someone continuously beats that bucket with a boat oar. Sometimes you zone out the sounds to focus on your toe, but that annoying sound always gains the focus back eventually. Overall, Sheriff (also released in the US as Bandito) is a very, very good shooter with a very unique take on the genre for the time. If you're a fan of older video games, then Sheriff is worth checking out. Its innovation of the Space Invaders-dominated genre of the time reflects how Nintendo has always been one to think a little bit outside of the box.

Review added: 02/22/2026

Sky Diver

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Atari

Sky Diver was an early arcade game released by Atari in 1978. The concept of the game is simple…you are a sky diver competing against a rival sky diver. At the bottom of the screen, you'll see black and white landing pads. Your goal is to land on the appropriate landing pad, with your parachute open for a safe landing. The catch is that if you open your parachute early, you'll have a greater chance to score, but the points you receive will be lessened. If you wait until the last minute to pop open that parachute, then you'll gain the maximum amount of points, but at the risk of either missing the landing pad or not getting your parachute open in time…and when the later happens, you'll hear sirens and see an ambulance roll on screen to take your crippled carcass away. Randomly, as you play, successfully landing in the proper zone, you may obtain a letter at the top of the screen. If you manage to spell out SKYDIVER, then you'll receive a double score bonus. As one might expect from an arcade game of the time, the gameplay is extremely simplistic, but it's pretty addicting for what it is. If you've got a few minutes to kill, and you give Sky Diver a chance, you may find yourself trying to perfect your sky diving skills for much longer than you anticipated. I definitely did.

Review added: 11/18/2025

SOS

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Namco

SOS was a Japanese-exclusive arcade game developed by Namco…and it's not very good. It's got an interesting concept, though. Basically, at the bottom of the screen is the word "shinryaku." Shinryaku, in Japanese, means invaders. So, basically, there's a counter next to shinryaku. If that counter reaches 100, it's game over. That counter increases if an enemy plane manages to fly past you without you shooting it down. However, while you're trying to shoot down these planes, you'll get the morse code "SOS" sound and signal appearing on the left or right side of the screen. If you maneuver your plane over to that SOS call, you'll get an extra 30 points and the shinryaku counter will decrease by 9, making up for any planes that may have gotten past you. The catch with this game is that you can only fire one bullet at a time…and if you're moving while firing, your bullet will fire at an angle instead of straight forward. The concept of this game is pretty solid…the problem is the game's speed. It's dreadfully slow-paced…and even with the slow speed, the game will bombard the screen with shinryaku planes, so it's near impossible to not let many of them fly by as you play…at least not until you get used to the angled shooting aspect. Another interesting tidbit, is that this may be the first game to contain nudity…if you're wondering where nudity would fit into what I just described, well, after you score 2,000 points, you'll see the words COFFEE BREAK along with a gal in a bikini. After you obtain 6,000 points, that gal will be topless. After you get 10,000 points, the gal is only wearing her birthday suit. It's not a graphic visual…the lady is cartoony, but it's still surprising that such a thing would be included in a game put in arcades…then again, I can't imagine too many folks would be willing to sit through this game long enough to see it.

Review added: 11/18/2025

Space Invaders

Also known as: Alien Invasion Part II (Bootleg), IPM Invader (Bootleg), The Invaders (Bootleg)

Developer: Pacific Kougyou

In Japan, in the mid-70s, games like Breakout were very, very popular. Tomohiro Nishikado, a fan of Breakout, liked tha game, but wanted to create something better. The goal was to create a sense of achievement from destroying targets, one at a time, like in Breakout, while combining it with elements of a target shooting game. The end result was that instead of bouncing a ball around to hit static targets, the player would control a ship and shoot at moving targets. Taking things further, Nishikado felt that there were other elements lacking in video games, and he aimed to correct them in Space Invaders. First, he wanted to ensure that enemies returned fire - you weren't just shooting at helpless targets. You were in danger, just like they were. He also removed the timer - most arcade games up until then used a timer when you popped a quarter in. When the timer ran out, so did your game. Instead of a timer, a set number of lives were introduced. If you lose your lives, then your game is over. Also acting as a timer, of sorts, were the aliens themselves, gradually dropping to the bottom of the screen like grains of sand in an hourglass. The end result was, for its time, a masterpiece of a game. Within a year of its release, Space Invaders was the all-time best-selling arcade game and it remained the top arcade game for a few years afterward, grossing over two billion US dollars by 1982…that's nearly seven billion dollars in 2025 money. While games like Galaxian and Galaga would later come along and perfect the formula created in Space Invaders, it's hard to deny how important and successful this game was. It wasn't just an insanely popular game, it was also one of the most influential video games ever created.

Review added: 11/11/2025

Street Fighter

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Capcom

For those unaware, the Street Fighter franchise didn’t exactly burst onto the scene with an excellent game...On the contrary, the original Street Fighter is just a barely passable experience that most fighting fans today would likely stick their noses in the air at. Though, I fairness, if the controls were a bit tighter, I do kind of enjoy how matches can potentially end in one or two hits if you’re able to pull them off without your opponent blocking. It’s kind of neat uppercutting my opponent to victory just as they’re lunging at me with an attempted move of their own. Anyway, with only one playable character, Ryu, the original Street Fighter didn’t really have much need to replay the game upon beating it. Only diehard Street Fighter fans wanting to the origin of the series should bother with this game...Though, for those who do play through, expect to see some familiar faces amongst the never-seen-again fighters while you fight around the world.

Review added: 08/29/2019

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Capcom

By the 1990's, arcades weren't what they used to be, here in the United States. Home gaming consoles had flourished, and it wasn't very easy to find an actual arcade…the typical local arcade was basically the corner of a pizza shop, bowling alley, or truck stop with maybe 4-5 cabinets sitting side-by-side. Well, at least that's how it was where I was growing up at the time. While people still played arcade games in the United States, I don't know if anyone really expected a game to catch on fire like they did back in the 70s and 80s…and then Street Fighter II came along. Street Fighter II extended the life of the arcade market, supposedly taking in over ten billion dollars in total revenue was of 2017, putting it only behind Space Invaders and Pac-Man…and those two games had an extra ten years of being in arcades. Street Fighter II's success was pretty easy to understand as soon as you played it for the first time. It was far and away the greatest fighting game that had ever been created up until that point. It was so good, that within a year or two of hitting arcades, just about every video game publisher that existed was trying their hands at putting out a fighting game….and the vast majority of them couldn't come anywhere near the quality of this gem. Basically, Street Fighter II improved on the original Street Fighter in every possible way. You could choose to fight as one of eight different fighters, instead of only being stuck with one like the previous game. Aside from the variety of fighters, which encouraged players to play this game over and over with each fighter…and in some cases, simply play over and over, just to perfect one, single fighter…the gameplay was tweaked so that everything played silky smooth. Hit detection feels great, movements are fluid, and the gameplay mechanics are so simple that Street Fighter II is a game that's easy for a newcomer to get into, but also deep enough where it takes time to master. Later variations of Street Fighter II tweaked this game to perfection, but the original release of Street Fighter II was almost there already.

Review added: 11/20/2025

Super Breakout

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Atari

Breakout was a hit for Atari and very successful at the arcades, so it only seems natural that a sequel would be made to capitalize on its popularity. Thus, Super Breakout was born. Not content to just be a single game, Super Breakout actually had three different game modes for you to play as, and you were able to choose which variation that you wanted to play using a rotary dial on the cabinet. The first variation, labeled "Double," had you controlling two paddles that are parallel to each other while you tried to keep two balls in play as long as you were able to. The next mode, labeled "Cavity," plays like normal Breakout, except that you'll see two cavities on the screen with balls bouncing around inside. Your goal is to break through to free those balls so that you'll have multiple balls in play to destroy as many blocks as possible. The best of the bunch, in my opinion, is labeled "Progressive." In this mode, it's your basic Breakout formula, but with a twist - the blocks at the top of the screen aren't stationary. Those blocks will gradually drop towards the bottom of the screen, making it harder and harder to keep that ball in play…especially after the ball has built up a bunch of speed. The end result is a game with plenty of reason to continue popping quarters in - if you master one game, you've got two more to try to conquer. While Super Breakout never quite seemed to reach the popularity of the original game, it's still a very fun game in its own right. If you're a fan of bouncing balls around a screen to break a bunch of colored bricks, then Super Breakout is a game that'll definitely keep you coming back for more.

Review added: 11/09/2025